News Desk :
Ehsan Aleem Avee, a resident of Mirpur, purchased a series of products online on Apr 28 as he chose to stay indoors in the coronavirus pandemic. Some products arrived in phases. Three months in, Avee is still waiting for a refund of Tk 1,900 for undelivered products, despite raising complaints with the e-commerce company’s customer care desk, reports bdnews24.com.
The pandemic has brought a significant change to customer behaviour forcing them to shop online. But complaints are piling up: low-quality products, slow delivery and delayed and complicated refunds.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection is now receiving more complaints about online shopping than ever before.
There is no immediate end to this. Some say e-commerce must be brought under a legal framework. And e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh or e-CAB agrees. For its part, the government is working on introducing a coordinated system to settle disputes.
Online shopping that began in 2011 in Bangladesh received a shot in the arm after the central bank opened the national payment switch.Amin Al Rasheed, who works for a private TV channel, said he felt “cheated” when he bought a television set from an e-commerce site.
“I bought a 40-inch LG TV using the credit card EMI system from online shop Daraz. Once I received it last night, I found the package, manual, remote, and nothing belongs to the LG brand. Only the TV has LG written on it. The TV stand is the wrong one, while they didn’t give a wall hanger. When the delivery man installed it, we found the picture quality very low.”
“So, it means that the entire product is a fake, right? My question is, how can an established company like Daraz do such things?” Rasheed wrote on Facebook.
Rasheed later returned the television set to Daraz’s Dhanmondi office, as the company suggested. Daraz said it would look into the complaint and refund him in 7-15 days if it is proved.
“They will take time to refund me and I’ll have to continue paying the credit card EMI, even if they pay me later. But the question is, who will compensate me for the mental pain I went through?”
Shameem Ara Sheuli, another customer who shopped from Daraz, shared her suffering on Facebook on Jun 20.
“I thought I would give it a try and ordered four products though my friends gave a bad review. Since the coronavirus epidemic is on, I don’t want to go out shopping. But I had to leave home four times for four products and two products were delivered in the wrong size. I have to travel to Dhanmondi in case I want to return them. I can’t risk my life for a few products,” she wrote.
Ira D’costa, an employee of a private company, bought a few products, including a keyring from a Facebook-based online shop. She got her products delivered on time but the keyring was rusted.
“I ordered it, finding it attractive. I never imagined that I would be cheated. They have finally changed the product after I contacted them several times. But I have already suffered my part of the trouble,” Ira said.
bdnews24.com asked Daraz about the complaints from their customers and contacted Shayantani Twisha, head of communications.
In many cases, the delivered product does not seem to be the same as ordered. bdnews24.com asked Daraz about such complaints raised by their customers. The customers also complained about the delay in responding to their complaints.
Ehsan Aleem Avee, a resident of Mirpur, purchased a series of products online on Apr 28 as he chose to stay indoors in the coronavirus pandemic. Some products arrived in phases. Three months in, Avee is still waiting for a refund of Tk 1,900 for undelivered products, despite raising complaints with the e-commerce company’s customer care desk, reports bdnews24.com.
The pandemic has brought a significant change to customer behaviour forcing them to shop online. But complaints are piling up: low-quality products, slow delivery and delayed and complicated refunds.
The Directorate of National Consumer Rights Protection is now receiving more complaints about online shopping than ever before.
There is no immediate end to this. Some say e-commerce must be brought under a legal framework. And e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh or e-CAB agrees. For its part, the government is working on introducing a coordinated system to settle disputes.
Online shopping that began in 2011 in Bangladesh received a shot in the arm after the central bank opened the national payment switch.Amin Al Rasheed, who works for a private TV channel, said he felt “cheated” when he bought a television set from an e-commerce site.
“I bought a 40-inch LG TV using the credit card EMI system from online shop Daraz. Once I received it last night, I found the package, manual, remote, and nothing belongs to the LG brand. Only the TV has LG written on it. The TV stand is the wrong one, while they didn’t give a wall hanger. When the delivery man installed it, we found the picture quality very low.”
“So, it means that the entire product is a fake, right? My question is, how can an established company like Daraz do such things?” Rasheed wrote on Facebook.
Rasheed later returned the television set to Daraz’s Dhanmondi office, as the company suggested. Daraz said it would look into the complaint and refund him in 7-15 days if it is proved.
“They will take time to refund me and I’ll have to continue paying the credit card EMI, even if they pay me later. But the question is, who will compensate me for the mental pain I went through?”
Shameem Ara Sheuli, another customer who shopped from Daraz, shared her suffering on Facebook on Jun 20.
“I thought I would give it a try and ordered four products though my friends gave a bad review. Since the coronavirus epidemic is on, I don’t want to go out shopping. But I had to leave home four times for four products and two products were delivered in the wrong size. I have to travel to Dhanmondi in case I want to return them. I can’t risk my life for a few products,” she wrote.
Ira D’costa, an employee of a private company, bought a few products, including a keyring from a Facebook-based online shop. She got her products delivered on time but the keyring was rusted.
“I ordered it, finding it attractive. I never imagined that I would be cheated. They have finally changed the product after I contacted them several times. But I have already suffered my part of the trouble,” Ira said.
bdnews24.com asked Daraz about the complaints from their customers and contacted Shayantani Twisha, head of communications.
In many cases, the delivered product does not seem to be the same as ordered. bdnews24.com asked Daraz about such complaints raised by their customers. The customers also complained about the delay in responding to their complaints.
